Duke  University  Libraries 


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D03212464M 


^^^^^ 


YETO  MESSAGE. 


EXECUTIVE  OFFICE,      ) 
January  22nd,  1862.  J 

To  the  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States : 

After  mature  consideration  of  the  Bill  to  encourage  the 
manufacture  of  small  arms,  saltpetre,  and  of  gunpowder,  with- 
in the  Confederate  States,  I  felt  constrained  to  return  it  with 
the  following  statement  of  objections  : 

By  its  provisions  the  Bill  deprives  the  Executive  of  the 
discretionary  power  to  protect  the  Government  against  un- 
necessary or  improvident  contracts,  and  confers  upon  indi- 
viduals who  may  propose  to  furnish  to  the  Government  any 
of  the  supplies  enumerated,  the  right  to  demand  that  their 
proposition  shall  be  accepted  and  that  fifty  per  cent,  of  the 
amount  proposed  to  be  invested  shall  be  paid  from  the  public 
Treasury,  without  any  other  condition  than  that  the  person 
making  such  proposition  shall  have  actually  expended  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  proposed  work  one-fourth  of  the  capital  to 
be  invested  in  it,  and  that  his  undertaking  shall  not  be,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  visionary  or  impracti- 
cable or  at  points  too  remote  for  the  advantage  of  the  Con- 
federacy. As  an  example  of  the  disadvantageous  operation 
of  the  Bill  herewith  returned,  the  attention  of  Congress  is 
called  to  the  contemplated  case  of  the  manufacture  of  gun- 
powder. Our  present  necessity  is  not  for  an  increase  of 
powder-mills,  but  for  a  supply  of  the  material  for  the  manu- 
facture of  gunpowder.  The  mills  now  in  existence  and  which 
could  be  readily  put  to  work  far  exceed  in  their  capacity  to 
manufacture  our  ability  to  supply  the  requisite  material. 
Yet  under  the  operation  of  this  Bill  it  would  follow  that  any 
one  who  should  propose  to  establish  a  powder-mill  upon  un- 
objectionable locality  and  that  he  had  invested  one-fourth  the 
capital  to  be  employed,  would  be  entitled  to  claim  an  advance ; 


1.     H.     %••       ^  I 


equal  to  50  per  cent,  of  that  amount  for  a  work  which  the  Gov- 
ernment (11  (1  not  require,  and  wliicli,  as  there  is  no  limitation  of 
time  for  the  fulfillment  of  his  contract  could  not  be  pronounced 
visionary  or  impracticable.  The  power  already  exists  to 
make  advances  equal  to  thirty-three  and  a  third  per  cent,  on 
contracts  for  arms  or  munitions  of  war,  and  experience  has 
not  shown  that  any  larger  advance  is  necessary  to  stimulate 
the  undertaking  of  such  contracts ;  on  the  contrary,  it  has 
not  yet  been  found  necessary  in  a  single  instance  to  make 
advances  to  the  full  amount  now  permitted  by  law.  The 
requirement  of  the  Bill  that  liberal  profits  shall  be  granted 
and  an  extraordinary  advance  be  made,  coupled  Avith  the  ab- 
sence of  any  Executive  discretion  to  refuse  any  contract  pro- 
posed for  the  supplies  mentioned  in  the  Bill,  would  inevita- 
bly expose  the  Treasury  to  heavy  drafts  from  the  class  of 
speculating  contractors. 

I  regret  that  these  features  of  the  Bill  compel  its  return, 
as  some  of  its  provisions  would  be  valuable  adjuncts  to  ex- 
isting legislation,  in  enabling  the  Government  to  aid  in  the 
establishment  of  manufactures  of  small  arms  and  the  creation 
of  artificial  saltpetre  beds. 

JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 


AN  ACT 

To  encourage  the  manufacture  of  small  arms,  saltpetre  aud 
of  gunpowder,  within  the  Confederate  States. 

Section  1.  The  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States  of  Amer- 
ica do  enact.  That  every  person  who  shall  propose  to  estab- 
lish, put  in  operation,  and  carry  on  a  manufactory  of  small 
arms  within  the  Confederate  States,  for  making  small  arms 
suitable  for  the  army  of  the  Confederate  States ;  and  every 
person  who  shall  propose  to  establish,  put  in  operation  and 
carry  on  a  manufactory  of  gun-powder  within  the  Confede- 
rate States,  suitable  as  ammunition  for  the  army  of  the 
Confederate  States  ;  and  every  person  who  shall  propose  to 
establish,  put  in  operation  and  carry  on  a  manufactory  of 
saltpetre  within  the  Confederate  States,  who  shall  submit  to 
the  Secretary  of  War  his  proposal  or  proposals,  in  one  or 
more  of  these  respects,  with  a  statement  of  the  amount  pro- 
posed by  him  to  be  so  invested  in  said  undertaking  or  un- 
dertakings, and  of  the  extent  and  plan  of  his  undertakin;::;3  ; 
and  who  shall  produce  satisfactory  evidence  to  the  Secretary 
of  War  that  he  has  actually  expended  in  the  prosecution  of 
the  proposed  work  one-fourth  of  the  capital  proposed  to  be 
invested  therein,  shall  be  entitled,  unless  the  Secretary  of 
War  deem  such  Avork  visionary  or  impracticable,  or  at  points 
too  remote  for  the  advantage  of  the  Confederacy,  to  receive 
at  such  times  and  in  such  amounts  as  may  be  required  for 
the  construction  and  operation  of  such  works,  as  an  advance 
from  the  Treasury,  a  sum  equal  to  fifty  per  cent,  on  the 
amount  proposed  by  him  to  be  so  invested ;  to  be  repaid, 
without  interest,  to  the  Confederate  States,  from  the  first 
merchantable  article  manufactured,  at  such  price  as  shall 
be  agreed  upon  and  stipulated  for  before  or  at  the  time  of 
such  advance,  by  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  other  con- 
tracting party,  said  price  to  be  such  as  shall  be  sufficient  to 
aflford  the  manufacturer  a  liberal  profit  upon  the  probable 
cost  of  production  :  Provided,  however,  That  no  such  advance 
ehall  be  made  until  the  party  applying  therefor  shall  enter 
into  bond  and  security,  to  be  approved  by  the  Secretary  of 


War,  or  by  some  one  appointed  by  him,  to  take  and  approve 
snid  liond.  Said  bond  to  be  in  the  penalty  of  double  the 
amount  proposed  to  be  advanced,  and  to  be  conditioned  to 
the  effect  that  the  principal  obligor  shall  well  and  truly,  and 
by  a  certain  time,  to  l)e  named  in  the  bond,  proceed  to  erect, 
oomplotc,  and  put  into  effective  operation  the  manufactory 
proposed;  that  he  Avill  expend  the  sum  proposed  for  these 
purposes  ;  that  he  >vill  appropriate  the  money  advanced  by 
the  Government  to  such  purpose,  and  to  no  other  use  or 
purpose  ;  and,  as  far  as  practicable,  will  keep  the  said  pro- 
perty insured,  and  that  he  will  repay  the  same  from  the  first 
merchantable  article  manufactured,  until  he  shall  fully  re- 
pay to  the  Confederate  States,  in  the  article  and  at  the  price 
stipulated  for,  the  sum  advanced  :  And  provided,  further. 
That  no  such  advance  shall  be  made  until  the  party  apply- 
ing therefor  shall  subscribe  a  Avritten  oath,  endorsed  upon 
the  back  of  said  bond,  which  may  be  administered  by  any 
person  competent  to  administer  oaths,  that  said  advance  is 
asked  for  the  purposes  specified  in  this  act,  and  for  no  other, 
and  that  he  or  they  will  so  apply  said  funds,  which  may  thus 
be  advanced.  And  a  willful  and  corrupt  violation  of  this 
oath  shall  be  deemed  perjury,  and  punishable  by  imprison- 
ment for  not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  ten  years. 

Sec  2.  The  Congress  do  further  enact,  That  the  Secretary 
of  War  may,  at  his  discretion,  in  anticipation  of  the  erec^ 
tion  of  such  manufactory  or  manufactories,  enter  into  such 
further  contracts  with  the  persons  proposing  to  establish  the 
same,  fur  the  thing  to  be  produced,  as  shall  comport  Avith 
the  then  present  or  prospective  wants  of  Government,  and 
in  ay  or  may  not,  at  his  discretion,  require  security  for  the 
performance  of  the  same ;  but  no  advance  or  pre-payment 
shall  be  made  on  such  last  mentioned  contracts.  And  con- 
tracts made  under  this  section  of  this  act  shall  be  such  as 
may  afford  the  manufacturer  a  liberal  profit  on  the  probable 
cost  of  production. 

Sec.  3.  The  Congress  do  further  enact,  That  in  case  of  the 
destruction  of  any  such  manufactory  of  gun-powder,  with- 
out the  negligence  or  fault  of  the  oAvner,  before  the  repay- 
ment to  Government  of  the  advance  made  by  it  under  the 
fi-rst  section  of  this  law,  the  owner  shall  be  excused  from  the 
further  performance  of  such  contract,  save  so  far  as  he  may 
be  able  to  perform  his  contract  with  the  property  remaining, 
or  from  the  manufactured  article  on  hand  at  the  time  of  and 
saved  from  such  loss. 


Sec.  4.  The  provisions  of  this  act  shall  apply  to  cases  of 
enlargement  of  manufactories  of  small  arms,  gun-powder 
and  saltpetre,  now  established  .or  being  established  within 
the  Confederate  States,  but  the  advances  made  in  such  case? 
shall  only  be  fifty  per  cent,  upon  the  amount  proposed  to 
be  invested  in  the  enlargement  of  such  manufactory,  and  no 
now  existing  investment  in  such  manufactory  shall  be  com- 
puted or  taken  into  account  in  determining  such  fifty  per 
cent.  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS, 

President  of  the  Congress,  pro  tempore. 

January  13,  1SG:2 
I  certify  that  this  Act  passed  the  Congress. 

J.  J.  Hooper, 

Secretary. 


VETO  MESSAGE. 

EXECUTIVE  OFFICE, 
Richmond,  January  22nd,  1862. 

To  the  Congress  of  the  Cm  federate  States  : 

I  have  considered  a  Bill  to  authorize  the  Secretary  of  War 
to  receive  into  the  service  of  the  Confederate  States  a  regi- 
ment of  volunteers  for  the  protection  of  the  frontier  of  Texa« 
and  herewith  return  it  to  the  Congress  with  a  statement  of 
my  objections,  which  are  respectfully  submitted  to  considera- 
tion. 

The  Bill  provides  that  a  regiment  of  volunteers  is  to  be 
raised  by  the  State  of  Texas,  under  the  provisions  of  an  Act 
of  the  Legislature  of  said  State,  and  directs  that  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  shall  receive  the  regiment  to  be  raised  and  in- 
corporate it  into  the  Provisional  Army  of  the  Confet^erate 
States. 

By  reference  to  the  Act  of  the  Legislature  of  Texas,  a 
copy  of  which  accompanied  the  Bill,  it  appears  that  all  that 
discretion  and  control,  which  of  necessity  is  vested  in  the 
Executive  of  the  Confederate  States  over  all  troops  employed 
in  their  service,  are  withheld  by  the  Act,  the  provisions  of 
which  are  adopted  in  your  Bill,  the  posting  and  move- 
ment of  the  troops  being  therein  confided  to  the  Governor  of 
the  State  under  the  plan  of  the  Legislature. 

There  are  other  objections  Avhich  are  mainly  important 
because  they  disturb  the  uniformity  and  complicate  the  sys- 
tem of  military  administration  prescribed  by  the  laws  of  the 
Confederate  States. 

Unity  and  co-operation  by  the  troops  of  all  the  States  are- 
indispensable  to  success,  and  I  must  view  with  regret  this  as 
all  other  indications  of  a  purpose  to  divide  the  power  of  the 
States  by  dividing  the  means  to  be  employed  in  efforts  to^ 
carry  on  separate  operations  ;  but,  if  in  any  case  it  be  advi- 
sable that  such  separate  action  should  be  taken,  it  seems  tO' 
me  palpably  clear  that  it  should  be  a  charge  against  the  in- 
dividual State,  rather  than  upon  the  common  Treasury  of 
the  Confederate  States. 

JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 


AN  ACT 

To  authorize  the  Secretary  of  War  to  receive  into  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Confederate  States  a  Regiment  of  Volunteers 
for  the  protection  of  the  frontier  of  Texas. 

Section  1 .  TJie  Congress  of  the  Coiifederate  States  of  Amer- 
ica do  enact,  That  tlie  Secretary  of  War  is  herchy  authorized 
and  directed  to  receive  into  the  service  of  the  Confederate 
States  a  Regiment  of  Yolunteers  to  be  raised  by  the 
State  of  Texas  for  the  protection  of  the  frontier  of  said 
State  against  Indian  depredations,  under  the  provisions  of 
an  act  of  the  Legishiture  of  said  State,  approved  December 
twenty-first,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-one,  and  said  regi- 
ment when  so  received,  shall  constitute  a  part  of  the  Provi- 
sional Army  of  the  Confederate  States  and  be  subject  to  the 
laws  governing  the  same. 

Sf.c.  2.  Said  regiment  shall  be  charged  with  the  defence 
of  the  Texas  frontier,  and  shall  not  be  removed  out  of  the 
limits  of  said  State  during  the  term  of  service  for  wliich 
the  same  was,  or  may  be  raised. 

HOWELL  COBB, 
President  of  the  Congress. 

January   17,   1861. 

I  certify  that  this  act  passed  the  Congress. 

J.  J.  HOOPER, 

Secretary^ 


Executive  Department,      ) 
AusTfN,  Texas,  December  27,  1861.  ) 
Hon.  W,  B.  Ochiltree,  Richmond,  Va. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  take  pleasure  in  enclosing  to  you  "  An  Act 
to  provide  for  the  protection  of  the  frontier  of  the  State  of 
Texas,  passed  by  the  Legislature  now  in  session  and  ap- 
proved by  the  Governor  on  the  21st  of  the  present  month. 

In  calling  your  attention  to  the  act,  my  duty  under  the 
law,  would  be  discharged,  and,  at  the  same  time  would  as 
fully  elicit  your  energetic  co-operation  in  seeking  to  have 
the  regiment  accepted  by  the  Confederate  Government,  as  I 
would  be  able  to  do  by  any  argument  I  may  make ;  but,  sir, 
you  will  excuse  me  for  urging  you  to  the  promptest  actioH 
in  the  direction  of  moving  the  Government  to  a  favorable 
consideration  of  the  matter. 

Our  frontier  demands  a  peculiar  force  for  its  defence,  and 
nothing  less  than  the  measures  set  on  foot  by  this  act  will 
secure  protection  to  the  people  in  that  region ;  besides,  if 
this  regiment  is  placed  on  the  frontier,  as  is  desired,  one  of 
the  regiments  now  there  can  be  safely  withdrawn  and  ordered 
into  other  service,  and  the  settlers  all  through  that  section 
being  thus  secured  against  Indian  depredations,  will  flock 
to  the  coast  service,  where  they  are  much  needed  at  this 
time. 

The  simple  effect  of  the  reception  of  this  regiment  wiH 
be  to  give  great  confidence  to  the  people  and  secure  protec- 
tion to  the  property  on  the  frontier,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
be  the  means  of  throwing  into  the  service  of  the  Confederacy 
many  men  from  that  section  of  the  State,  who  are  now 
forced  to  remain  at  home  because  of  the  daily  insecurity  ia 
which  they  live.  Your  intimate  knowledge  of  that  people, 
will  justify  you  in  urging,  with  the  utmost  zeal,  the  recep- 
tion of  this  regiment,  knowing  that  by  so  doing,  you  will  be 
attempting  to  advantage  and  benefit  a  large  and  meritorious 
portion  of  your  fellow  citizens. 

Hoping,  sir,  that  you  will,  at  a  short  date  from  this  time, 
be  able  to  advise  this  Department  that  this  regiment  has 
been  received  by  the  Government  of  the  Confederate  States, 
I  have,  sir,  the  honor  to  remain. 

With  the  greatest  respect. 

Your  very  ob'dt  serv't, 

F.  R.  LUBBOCK. 


AN  ACT 

To  provide  for  the  protection  of  the  Frontier  of  the  State  of 

Texas. 

Section  1 .  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of 
Texas,  That  there  shall  be  raised  a  regiment  of  Rangers  ft)r 
the  protection  of  the  Northern  and  Western  frontier  of  the 
State  of  Texas,  to  consist  of  ten  companies,  to  be  raised  as 
hereinafter  prescribed,  to  be  officered  according  to  the  rules 
and  regulations  of  the  Confederate  States  Army,  and  the 
number  of  officers  and  privates,  their  pay  and  emoluments, 
shall  be  the  same  as  in  similar  service  in  the  Confederate 
States  Array. 

Sec.  2.  Said  men  shall  furnish  themselves  with  arms, 
horses  and  accoutrements  and  shall  be  enrolled  for  a  term 
not  less  than  twelve  months,  unless  sooner  discharged,  and 
at  the  expiration  of  their  term  of  service,  others  shall  be 
enrolled  to  supply  their  places. 

Sec.  3.  The  requisite  number  of  men  for  said  regiment 
shall  be  raised  in  the  frontier  counties,  to  wit :  One  compa- 
ny shall  be  raised  in  the  counties  of  Clay,  Montague,  Cooke 
and  Wise ;  one  company  shall  be  raised  in  the  counties  of 
Young,  Jack,  Palo  Pinto  and  Parker;  one  company  from 
the  counties  of  Stephens,  Eastland,  Erath  and  Bosque ;  one 
company  from  the  counties  of  Coryell,  Hamilton,  Lampasas, 
Comanche  and  Brown;  one  company  from  the  counties  of 
San  Saba,  Mason,  Llano  and  Burnet;  one  company  from  the 
counties  of  Gillespie,  Hays  and  Kerr  ;  one  compiuiy  from 
the  counties  of  Blanco,  Bandera,  Medina  and  Uvalde  ;  one 
company  from  the  counties  of  Frio,  Atascosa,  Live  Oak, 
Karnes  and  Bee;  one  company  from  the  counties  of  El  Paso 
and  ]*refc;idio;  one  company  may  be  raised  in  any  section  of 
the  State  the  Governor  may  direct :  And,  provided,  that  the 
unorganized  counties  shall  furnish  men  with  the  counties  to 
which  they  are  attached  for  judicial  purposes,  and  every 
county  named  in  this  section  shall  have  the  privilege  to  fur- 
nish its  proportion  of  men,  in  preference  to  all  other  appli- 
cations; and  when  any  company  cannot  be  furnished  with 
the  requisite  number  of  men  from  the  counties  named  in 
this  Act,  then  the  deficiency  may  be  supplied  from  the 
nearest  adjoining  counties  not  named  in  this  Act. 


11 

Sec.  4.  Said  troops  shall  be  stationed  in  detaeliments  of 
not  less  than  twenty-five  men.  When  the  requisite  number 
of  men  shall  have  entered  this  service,  and  shall  take  their 
stations  on  the  outside  settlements  of  the  frontier,  as  nearly 
as  practicable  in  a  direct  line  from  a  point  on  Red  River  to 
a  point  on  the  Rio  Grande  river,  and  thence  down  said  river 
to  its  mouth,  to  be  selected  by  the  commanding  officer,  and 
the  commanding  officer  shall  select  the  posts  at  the  directions 
of  the  Governor,  in  accordance  with  this  Act,  and  sir:h  sta- 
tions shall  be,  if  practicable,  about  twenty-five  miles  dis- 
tant from  each  other,  or  so  near  each  other  that  scouts  shall 
pass  over  the  ground  between  any  two  stations  once  every 
day.  And  further  that  the  companies,  or  parts  of  compa- 
nies, shall  be  stationed  on  that  part  of  the  frontier  in  which 
they  have  been  enrolled,  and  that  the  posts  on  Red  River 
shall  be  supplied  with  additional  force  of  not  less  than  twen- 
ty-five and  the  company  designated  in  the  third  section  of 
this  Act,  to  be  raised  in  any  part  of  tlie  State,  shall  be  in 
readiness  to  report  to  any  part  of  the  line  the  Governor  or 
commanding  officer  may  think  necessary. 

Sec.  5.  That  the  Governor  is  required,  immediately  after 
the  passage  of  this  Act,  to  commission  competent  persons, 
one  for  every  company  and  district,  as  set  forth  in  this  Act, 
to  enrol  the  number  of  men  for  a  company,  and  when  at 
least  sixty-four  men  shall  have  been  enrolled,  they  shall  or- 
ganize by  holding  elections  for  company  officers,  and  the 
Captain  elected  shall  return  a  muster-roll,  and  make  such 
other  reports  as  may  be  required  by  the  Governor,  to  the 
Adjutant-General's  department,  and  shall,  as  soon  as  order- 
ed by  the  Governor,  repair  to  the  frontier,  and  perform  duty 
on  the  plan  laid  down  in  this  Act,  until  otherwise  directed 
by  the  Governor  or  superior  officers.  v 

Sec.  6.  The  Governor  shall  have  power  to  appoint  tne 
field  officers,  as  well  as  all  other  disbursing  officers,  pertain- 
ing to  said  regiment. 

Sec.  7.  The  troops  raised  under  and  by  virtue  of  this 
Act  shall  be  subject  to  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  Con- 
federate States  Army,  but  shall  always  be  subject  to  th!fe 
authorities  of  the  State  of  Texas  for  frontier  service,  and 
shall  not  be  removed  beyond  the  limits  of  the  State  of  Texas, 
and  that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Governor  to  enclose  a 
copy  of  this  Act  to  the  Secretary  of  War  and  to  each  of  our 
Representatives  in  Congress,  urging  the  acceptance  of  said 
regiment  in  the  service  of  the  Confederate  States,  as  in  lieu 


n 

of  one  of  the  regiments  now  upon  said  frontier,  and  as  the 
most  effective  and  economical  mode  of  frontier  protection. 

Sfx.  8.  That  no  portion  of  said  troops  sliall  become  a 
charge  against  tlie  State  until  organized  as  required  by  the 
fifth  section  of  this  Act,  and  placed  under  orders. 

Sec.  9.  That  an  Act  to  provide  for  the  protection  of  the 
frontier  of  the  State  of  Texas,  passed  February  7th,  1861, 
be  and  the  same  is  hereby  repealed,  from  and  after  the  Ist 
day  of  March  next. 

Sf.c.  10.  The  Governor  shall  have  power  to  disband  said 
regiment  whenever  in  his  ju'lgment  the  services  shall  no 
longer  be  necessary  for  frontier  protection,  should  the  same 
not  be  accepted  by  the  Confederate  Government,  under  the 
provisions  of  this  Act. 

Six.  1 1 .  That  this  Act  take  effect  and  be  in  force  frona 
and  after  its  passage. 

Approved  December  21,  1861. 

STATE  DEPARTMENT,  ) 

Austin,  December  23d,  1861.  J 

1,  C.  S.  West,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  State  of  Texas, 
do  hereby  certify  tliat  the  foregoing  Act  is  a  true  copy  of 
ithe  original  now  on  file  in  tljis  office. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  signed  my  name, 
and  affixed  the  seal  of  the  State  Department,  the  day 
and  date  above  written. 

C.  S.  WEST, 

Secretary  of  State, 


VETO  MESSAGE. 

EXECUTIVE  OFFICE,  y 
January  22,   1862.       \ 

To  tlie  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States : 

After  mature  deliberation,  I  have  not  been  able  to  approve 
the  bill,  herewith  returned,  entitled  "An  act  to  provide  for 
raising  and  organizing,  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  additional 
forces  for  the  Provisional  Army  of  the  Confederate  States." 

In  a  message  just  submitted  to  the  Congress,  in  relation 
to  certain  forces  to  be  raised  in  the  State  of  Texas,  I  have 
stated  the  objections  entertained  to  any  legislative  discrimi- 
nation for  or  against  a  particular  State,  thereby  disturbing 
the  harmony  of  the  system  adopted  for  the  common  defence. 
In  a  bill  very  recently  passed  by  the  Congress,  a  new  plan 
has  been  established  for  raising  and  organizing  troops  for 
the  Confederate  service;  by  the  provisions  of  this  last-men- 
tioned law,  you  have  given  me  authority  to  raise  and  organ- 
ize  troops  in  all  the  States,  by  granting  commissions,  in 
advance  of  the  actual  enlistment  of  the  troops,  to  officers 
below  the  grade  of  general  officers  and  above  that  of  subal- 
terns. To  the  officers  thus  commissioned,  you  do  not  give 
a.ny  pay  or  allowances  until  the  actual  organization  of  the 
companies,  battalions  or  regiments,  that  the  officers  so  com- 
missioned were  empowered  to  raise ;  and  you  do  not  allow 
pay,  but  have  even  prohibited  the  allowance  of  subsistence 
or  transportation  to  the  men  enrolled,  in  order  to  enable 
them  to  reach  the  rendezvous  of  their  companies.  By  the 
terms  of  the  bill  now  returned,  an  exception  is  made  in  fa- 
vor of  the  State  of  Missouri  alone.  By  the  provisions  of 
the  bill,  it  is  contemplated  that  advance  commissions  shall 
be  granted  to  officers  of  all  grades,  from  the  highest  general 
officer  of  the  Provisienal  Army  to  the  lowest  subaltern  of  a 
company,  and  that  the  officers,  whether  of  the  staff  or  the 
line,  thus  appointed,  shall  receive  pay  from  the  date  of  their 
respective  appointments,  without  any  condition  rendering 
this  pay  dependent  on  their  success  in  raising  the  troops. 


14 

The  perioral  bill  which  has  now  become  a  law.  applicable 
to  Missouri  as  to  all  the  other  States,  fixes  a  reasonable  term 
within  which  officers  commissioned  in  advance  must  succeed 
in  raising  troops,  under  penalty  of  forfeiting  their  commis- 
sions. The  present  bill  removes  this  salutary  restriction, 
and  vests  in  the  Executive  the  dangerous  power,  not  only  of 
appointing,  at  his  discretion,  an  unlimited  number  of  mili- 
tary officers,  irrespective  of  any  troops  to  be  commanded  by 
them,  but  allows  him  to  retain  the  officers  so  appointed  in 
the  public  service,  at  the  public  expense,  during  the  Execu- 
tive pleasure.  I  am  not  able  to  perceive,  in  the  present 
condition  of  public  affairs  in  the  State  of  jNIissouri,  the  ne- 
cessity, which  would  form  the  only  possible  excuse,  for  a 
grant  of  such  power  to  a  constitutional  Executive.  I  re- 
ceive assurances  from  those  Avhose  sources  of  information 
are  entirely  reliable,  that  the  raising  and  organization  of 
troops  in  Missouri,  for  service  in  the  Confederate  army,  are 
successl'ully  progressing,  and  that  within  a  very  few  days 
the  muster-rolls  will  be  received,  thus  placing  it  in  my  power 
to  organize  the  army  in  that  State  on  precisely  the  sam6 
footing  as  in  all  the  others,  and  thus  avoid  any  need  for  ex- 
ceptional legislation. 

In  addition  to  these  ol)jections,  founded  in  principle,  there 
would  be  a  practical  difficulty  in  the  operation  of  the  bill, 
which  appears  insurmountable.  All  the  troops  now  in  ser- 
vice in  the  State  of  Missouri  are  State  troops,  commanded 
by  State  officers,  Avhich  have  never  been  tendered  or  received 
in  the  Confederate  service. 

In  exercising  the  power  of  appointment,  proposed  to  be 
vested  in  me  by  the  bill,  the  best  hope  for  success  in  its  pur- 
pose would  be  founded  on  selecting  those  officers  who  had 
distinguished  themselves  in  command,  and  had  become  en- 
deared to  the  troops.  But  tbis  would  l)c  to  deprive  the  State 
troops  of  their  commanding  officers  during  the  whole  period 
necessary  for  the  enrolment  and  organization  of  the  troops 
under  Confederate  laws.  Missouri  would  thus  be  left  com- 
paratively defenceless,  whilst  the  re-organization  was  pro- 
gressing. Therefore,  regarding  this  bill  as  impolitic  and 
unnecessary,  it  is  submitted  for  your  reconsideration. 

JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 


AN  ACT 

To  provide  for  Raising  and  Organizing,  in  the  State  of 
Missouri,  additional  Forces  for  the  Provisional  Army  of 
the  Confederate  States. 

Sectton  1 .  The  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America 
do  enact,  That  in  order  to  facilitate  and  expedite  the  raising 
and  organization  of  troops  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  the 
President  be  and  he  is  hereby  authorized  to  appoint,  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  Congress,  such  Major  and 
Brigadier  Generals,  Field,  Staff  and  Company  officers,  as  the 
interests  of  the  common  defence  may  require. 

Sec  2.  The  officers  appointed  under  the  provisions  of  this 
Act  shall  be  entitled  to  rank  and  receive  pay  from  the  date 
of  their  respective  appointments,  and  shall  be  assigned  to 
the  immediate  duty  of  raising  and  organizing  Confederate 
troops  in  the  State  of  Missouri ;  and  if  such  officers  shall 
not,  within  a  reasonable  time,  report  their  appropriate  com- 
mands organized  and  ready  for  duty,  the  President  may,  in 
his  discretion,  vacate  their  commissions. 

Sec.  3.  The  officers  and  men  raised  under  the  provisions 
of  this  Act,  shall  be  subject  to  all  the  rules  and  regulations 
for  the  Government  of  the  Provisional  Army  of  the  Con- 
federate States,  in  like  manner  as  other  troops  of  the  Pro- 
visional Army. 

ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS, 

Preside?it  of  the  Congress,  pro  tempore. 

January,  13,  1862. 
I  certify  that  this  Act  passed  the  Congress. 

J.  J.  Hooper, 

Secretary. 


Hollinger  Corp. 
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